"Former Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa said on Tuesday tough Chinese national security laws could be introduced in Hong Kong, stoking fears China may tighten control in its southern financial hub after last year's pro-democracy street protests...Tens of thousands of student-led protesters camped out on major roads for over two months in a push for direct elections without Chinese curbs... Beijing has allowed elections for choosing the next chief executive, but wants to screen candidates first. Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, were openly mocked in banners and posters during the street campaign for trampling on the city's freedoms," writes Reuters. 

According to The New York Times, "China grew at its slowest rate in 24 years in 2014, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. The economy expanded by 7.3 percent in the last quarter of the year, and 7.4 percent for the full year. Although that kind of growth would be welcomed by most countries, it falls short of the Chinese government's target of 7.5 percent for the year... Few economists were surprised by the slowdown. Even the country's senior leaders have said they were comfortable with slower, steadier growth, and its president, Xi Jinping, even coined a term for this new slowdown: the 'new normal'". The article goes on to say, "'Yes, China's economy is slowing, but it's a natural slowdown after 30 years of rapid growth...it still makes China the largest contributor to GDP growth in the world.'" 

"More than 100 Chinese citizens trapped by fighting between government troops and insurgents in northern Myanmar, have been arrested and are being held by the Myanmar government, a Chinese embassy spokesman in Yangon said on Tuesday... Chinese nationals were among 2,000 civilians trapped in the northern state of Kachin, which borders southern China, where the Myanmar military has been battling the rebel Kachin Independence Army (KIA) for years. Pan said that the local government claimed the Chinese nationals had entered Myanmar illegally, but that the arrested workers had denied this... 'The embassy is now working for their release,'" reports Reuters.